Systems, methods, and apparatus for overhead scanning of images in a manual distribution environment

ABSTRACT

This disclosure defines systems, methods and apparatus for imaging systems for scanning barcodes and images in a manual distribution environment. In one aspect a method is disclosed for expanding the effective field of view of a camera used in an overhead scanning system. The method may include moving a mirror positioned relative to the input of a camera according to a determined pattern of movement and a determined speed and capturing a series of images with the camera while the mirror is moving such that the field of view defining each image captured by the camera changes based on the position of the mirror. The method may further include using combined image data from each of the images in the series of images to process machine readable information located on a target item being imaged.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/422,876, entitled “SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUS FOR OVERHEADSCANNING OF IMAGES IN A MANUAL DISTRIBUTION ENVIRONMENT” filed on Mar.16, 2012, which claims benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/453,903 entitled “CAMERA TO BEUSED FOR OVERHEAD SCANNING OF IMAGES IN A MANUAL DISTRIBUTIONENVIRONMENT” filed on Mar. 17, 2011, the disclosures of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entirety.

FIELD

The present application relates generally to imaging systems forscanning and processing barcodes and other information in a manualdistribution environment.

BACKGROUND

Manual distribution systems employ the use of barcodes and otherprinted/encoded information for use in electronically scanning, sortingand managing distribution items. As items are manually sorted andprocessed by operators, scanning systems and techniques are employed toautomatically capture and process barcodes and other machine readableinformation. Many methods and devices for processing barcodes areavailable. These may include one-dimensional barcode scanning devices,such as handheld barcode readers. Other examples of barcode scanningdevices and systems include photo diode pen type readers, laser barcodescanners, charge coupled diode (CCD) scanners, and camera based barcodescanners. Improved scanning systems and techniques are desirable forallowing operators to efficiently sort and scan distribution items asthey are being handled and processed in a distribution system.

SUMMARY

Various implementations of systems, methods and devices within the scopeof the appended claims each have several aspects, no single one of whichis solely responsible for the desirable attributes described herein.Without limiting the scope of the appended claims, some prominentfeatures are described herein.

Details of one or more implementations of the subject matter describedin this specification are set forth in the accompanying drawings and thedescription below. Other features, aspects, and advantages will becomeapparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims. Note thatthe relative dimensions of the following figures may not be drawn toscale.

One aspect of the subject matter described in the disclosure provides anapparatus for capturing images. The apparatus includes an image capturedevice including one or more image sensors. The apparatus furtherincludes a mirror configured to be selectively movable and positionedrelative to the image capture device to reflect light toward the one ormore image sensors. The apparatus further includes a controllerconfigured to capture at least one image while the mirror is moving suchthat a field of view defined by the at least one image changes based onan instantaneous position of the mirror. The controller is furtherconfigured to process the at least one image to extract machine readableinformation located on at least a portion of one or more items in the atleast one image.

Another aspect of the subject matter described in the disclosureprovides an implementation of a method for capturing images. The methodincludes selectively moving a mirror positioned relative to the input ofan image capture device. The method further includes capturing at leastone image via the image capture device while the mirror is moving suchthat a field of view defined by the at least one image changes based onan instantaneous position of the mirror. The method further includesprocessing the at least one image to extract machine readableinformation located on at least a portion of one or more items in the atleast one image.

Yet another aspect of the subject matter described in the disclosureprovides an apparatus for capturing images. The apparatus includes meansfor reflecting light means for selectively moving the means forreflecting light. The apparatus further includes means for capturing atleast one image using light reflected off the means for reflecting lightwhile the means for reflecting light is moving such that a field of viewdefined by the at least one image changes based on an instantaneousposition of the means for reflecting light. The apparatus furtherincludes means for processing the at least one image to extract machinereadable information located on at least a portion of one or more itemsin the at least one image.

Another aspect of the subject matter described in the disclosureprovides an apparatus for capturing images. The apparatus includes acamera configured to capture an image defined by a first field view fora determined resolution. The apparatus further includes a mirrorconfigured to be selectively movable and configured to be positioned atthe input of the camera such that light is reflected from the mirror andinto the camera. The apparatus further includes a controller configuredto capture a series of images via the camera while the mirror is movingsuch that a second field of view defined by the series of images islarger than the first field of view.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C show examples of items and information that may beprocessed and scanned in a manual distribution system.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an image capture system for use inextracting machine readable information on an item placed within ascanning area.

FIG. 3A is a functional block diagram of an image capture device, inaccordance with embodiments described herein.

FIG. 3B is a functional block diagram of a system for capturing imagesincluding the image capture device of FIG. 3A and a movable mirror, inaccordance with an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 4A is a side elevation view of a system for capturing images usinga movable mirror for extracting machine readable information from itemswithin a scanning area, in accordance with an embodiment describedherein.

FIG. 4B is a side perspective view of the system of FIG. 4A forcapturing and processing images using a movable mirror.

FIG. 5A is a side elevation view of a system for capturing images usinga movable mirror for extracting machine readable information from itemswithin a scanning area, in accordance with another embodiment describedherein.

FIG. 5B is a side perspective view of the system of FIG. 5A forcapturing and processing images using a movable mirror.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are perspective views of the system shown in FIGS. 4Aand 4B respectively for extracting machine readable information from anitem within a scanning area, in accordance with an embodiment describedherein.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an implementation of a method forexpanding an effective field of view for use in a system for extractingmachine readable information from an item within a scanning area, inaccordance with an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an implementation of a method forcapturing and processing images to extract machine readable informationfrom an item located within a scanning area, in accordance with anembodiment described herein.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an implementation of another methodfor capturing and processing images to extract machine readableinformation from an item located within a scanning area, in accordancewith an embodiment described herein.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an implementation of a method forprocessing an image to extract machine readable information in the formof a barcode, in accordance with an embodiment described herein.

The various features illustrated in the drawings may not be drawn toscale. Accordingly, the dimensions of the various features may bearbitrarily expanded or reduced for clarity. In addition, some of thedrawings may not depict all of the components of a given system, methodor device. Finally, like reference numerals may be used to denote likefeatures throughout the specification and figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of exemplary embodiments of theinvention and is not intended to represent the only embodiments in whichthe invention may be practiced. The term “exemplary” used throughoutthis description means “serving as an example, instance, orillustration,” and should not necessarily be construed as preferred oradvantageous over other exemplary embodiments. The detailed descriptionincludes specific details for the purpose of providing a thoroughunderstanding of the exemplary embodiments of the invention. Theexemplary embodiments of the invention may be practiced without thesespecific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devicesare shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the noveltyof the exemplary embodiments presented herein.

Manual distribution systems may include scanning systems for capturingand/or processing machine readable information printed on an item beingscanned. For example, the scanning systems may include capabilities forscanning barcodes and other encoded values.

FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C show examples of items and information that may beprocessed and scanned in a manual distribution system. FIG. 1A shows anitem 100 a, such as a package, that may be a distribution item and maybe processed by a scanning system. Machine readable information may beaffixed to and/or printed on the item 100 a. For example, the item 100 amay have a barcode 151 a, such as a Quick Response (QR) code 151 a.Another barcode 155 a, such as a four state barcode 155 a (e.g., anIntelligent Mail® barcode) may also be affixed to the item 100 a. Theitem 100 a may also include machine readable text 160 a that may bescanned and processed by the scanning system. As shown in FIG. 1A, theitem 100 a may be a package or other object of any shape or size.

FIG. 1B shows an example of another item, such as a mail piece 100 bLike the item 100 a, a variety of types of machine readable informationmay be affixed to the mail piece 100 b. For example, machine readabletext 160 b and a four state barcode 155 b may be affixed and/or printedon the mail piece 100 b. The mail piece 100 b may further include astamp 162 b that may include a variety of type of information that maybe scanned and processed to decode information from the stamp 162. Forexample, the stamp may include a barcode 150 b or any other machinereadable text. In some embodiments, the stamp may include an image 164 bfrom which information associated with the image may be determined. Theimage 164 b may also be affixed and/or printed to other portions of themail piece 100 b. The information extracted from the mail piece 100 b oritem 100 a (FIG. 1A) may include a variety of different types ofinformation associated with the item 100 a, such as informationassociated with identifying the item 100 a, tracking the item 100 a, adestination of the item 100 a, a source or sender of the item 100 a,sorting data, routing information regarding the item 100 a, and thelike.

FIG. 1C shows examples of various different types of barcodes that maybe affixed to and/or printed on item 100 a or a mail piece 100 b thatmay be scanned and decoded to extract information regarding the item 100a or mail piece 100 b. For example, a barcode may be a data matrixbarcode 151 c that may be affixed to and/or printed on an item 100 a.The barcode may also be a width modulated bar code 152 c. In addition,other barcodes such as two state barcodes 153 c and 154 c (e.g., PLANETor POSTNET barcodes) may be used. A barcode may also be a four statebarcode 155 c, such as an Intelligent Mail® barcode, and affixed toand/or printed on an item 100 a or mail piece 100 b.

It should be appreciated that while the items 100 a and 100 b may bedepicted and/or described herein as distribution items, the systems andmethods described herein may be applicable to any item that may includemachine readable information affixed to and/or printed thereon. Inaddition, the systems and methods described herein may be used inconjunction with any object that may be imaged and processed to extractinformation regarding the item. For examples, objects may includeenvelopes, cartons, flats, crates, bins, and the like. For ease ofreference, items 100 a and 100 b may be referred to hereinafter as anitem 100.

As described above, it may be desirable to have an automated way to scanand process an item 100 without intervention by an operator. Forexample, handheld scanners and/or processing systems may be cumbersomeand difficult to manage. More particularly, it may be difficult for anoperator to carry and scan an item 100 as well as position and or findareas on the item 100 to scan. As such, in some embodiments a scanningsystem may be employed relative to a scanning area such that an item 100may be automatically scanned and processed when it passes within thescanning area. For example, a scanning system may employ an imagecapture device employed over a scanning area.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an image capture system 200 for use inextracting machine readable information on an item 100 placed within ascanning area. For example, a scanning and processing system may employthe use of a two dimensional camera image capture system.Two-dimensional imaging systems may have high frame rates (e.g., 90frames per second) and fast exposure times (e.g., 100 microseconds).These systems may be used in applications involving asynchronousmovement without the need for motion specific information with respectto a target bar code or other machine readable text. For example, imagesmay be captured at a speed such that at least one clear still image withall necessary information may be captured even as an item 100 is movingquickly through the system's scanning area.

The system 200 may include an image capture device 202 for capturing animage within a scanning area 104. The image capture device 202 may befor example, a camera (e.g., a digital camera), or any other deviceconfigured to capture images. In some embodiments, the image capturedevice 202 may include a two-dimensional array of image pixel sensors(not shown). The image sensors may be charge-coupled device (CCD) pixelsensors, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) pixel sensors orthe like. The image capture device 202 may be mounted overhead where anitem 100 (not shown in FIG. 2), or more than one item 100, is movedthrough or placed on a surface within a field of view 206 of an overheadimage capture device 202 for imaging/scanning as each item 100 isprocessed. This allows the item 100 to be sorted while capturing andprocessing machine readable data and other information from the item 100in a hands free passive manner.

For example, an item 100 such as a distribution item (e.g., a mailpiece) which may include barcodes, return addresses, destinationaddresses, and other information, may be placed in a field of view 206of an overhead image capture device 202 for scanning as each item 100 issorted. The field of view 206 of the image capture device 200 mayinclude an area within a scanning area intended to capture machinereadable information on an item 100 of differing heights and sizes.Captured images of an item 100 (or a portion of one or more items) maybe processed using a controller (not shown) to decode barcodeinformation, perform optical reading of information (e.g., return anddestination addresses), and gather other information about the item 100being sorted. The fixed mounted scanning system 200 may be placed over aconveyor belt or simply over a surface where an operator places eachitem within the field of view 206 of the image capture device 202.Alternatively, the item 100 may be carried by an operator and/or amachine under the image capture device 202 such that it is scanned andprocessed while moving. Although an item 100 such as a mail piece 100 bis used as an example herein, the systems and methods described hereinmay be applicable for any system in which information on an item 100 maybe extracted, such as warehouse items and the like.

The field of view 206 of the image capture device 202 may correspond tothe visible area captured by image sensors of the image capture device202. The field of the view 206 captured by the image capture device 202may be constrained by a size of the two dimensional camera sensor array(e.g., number of row and column pixels on an image sensing chip) and thedesired resolution of the image. The resolution may be measured in dotsper inch (DPI). For example, when using an overhead image capture device202, the desired resolution may be affected by the size of the camerasensor array and the height of the camera over an object being scanned.As the image capture device 202 is moved further away from an area ofinspection, the field of view 206 may increase while the resolution maydecrease. Some applications require an image capture device 202 withsufficiently high DPI to support optical character reading (e.g., 200DPI or greater) as well as supporting barcode decoding.

As an example, in FIG. 2, the image capture device 202 may be placedthirty-six to forty-eight inches above a scanning area 204. In otherembodiments, the image capture device 202 may be placed at otherdistances from the scanning area 204. According to this example, theresulting field of view 206 may define an approximate twelve inch bytwelve inch area in which images may be captured for a targetresolution. In other embodiments, the image capture area can be of otherdimensions depending on, for example, the capabilities of the imagecapture device 202 or the distance of the image capture device 202 fromthe scanning area. The field of view 206 shown in FIG. 2, may besufficient to allow the image capture device 202 to capture images withsufficiently high DPI for scanning an item 100 such as distributionitems, which may include machine readable information such as barcodes,return addresses, destination addresses, and the like.

In order to accurately capture and process information such as returnand destination addresses located on an item 100 (e.g., through opticalcharacter reading techniques, etc.), the item 100 may need to be placedsuch that return and destination addresses printed on the item 100 suchas a mail piece 100 b are positioned within a defined “trigger zone” 208shown in FIG. 2. This may ensure that a captured image has all the datanecessary to adequately extract the information from the item 100. The“trigger zone” 208 is within and may be significantly smaller than thefield of view 206 of the image capture device. Given, for example, thefield of view 206 defined by FIG. 2, operators may have difficultyplacing an item correctly within or moving an item through the field ofview 206 of the image capture device 202 such that information such asthe return address and destination address of an item 100 are includedwithin the trigger zone 208.

As such, it is desirable to increase the size of the field of view 206of the image capture device 202 so as to allow operators to more quicklyand easily place an item 100 while sorting and/or processing, such thatcaptured images include all desired information to be automaticallyprocessed by the scanning system. A field of view 206 that is expandedor enlarged may allow for more efficient sorting operations andincreased efficiency in capturing image data. However, placing an imagecapture device 202 at a further distance from a scanning area toincrease the field of view 206 may be inadequate as, without furthermodification, the resolution of the resulting images may be reducedresulting in inaccurate image processing. For example, the resultingresolution may not be sufficient for optical character recognitiondesired by the system 200. Alternatively, expanding the field of view,while maintaining a desired resolution, may involve increasing the sizeof the sensor array of the image capture device 202. However, this maybe difficult to achieve given that a larger image sensor array may betechnologically infeasible or may unacceptably increase the cost of theimage capture device 202. In addition, any other alterations to thescanning system resulting in increasing the field of view, withoutsacrificing resolution, should still enable an operator to sort and/orprocess an item 100 while automatically processing information from item106 in a hands free passive manner.

According to embodiments described herein, systems and methods areprovided for expanding the effective field of view of a system forcapturing and processing image while avoiding, in some aspects,increasing the size of the image sensor array or decreasing the desiredresolution.

FIG. 3A is a functional block diagram of an image capture device 302, inaccordance with embodiments described herein. FIG. 3A shows some of thecomponents that may be used in the image capture device 302. The imagecapture device 302 of FIG. 3A, may be the image capture device 202 shownin FIG. 2 and may be an example of a device that may be configured toimplement the various methods described herein. The image capture device302 may include one or more image sensors 334. For example, the imagesensors may be charge-coupled device (CCD) pixel sensors, complementarymetal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) pixel sensors and the like. The imagesensors 334 may form a two dimensional array of image sensors 334 andmay be configured to convert light into digital signals that representan image.

The image capture device 302 may include a controller 330 that maycontrol operations of the image capture device 302. The controller 330may also be referred to as a central processing unit (CPU) or just as aprocessor. The controller 330 may perform logical and arithmeticoperations based on program instructions stored within a memory 332.Memory 332, which may include both read-only memory (ROM) and randomaccess memory (RAM), provides instructions and data to the processor330. A portion of the memory 206 may also include non-volatile randomaccess memory (NVRAM). The instructions in the memory 206 may beexecutable to implement the methods described herein.

The controller 330 may comprise or be a component of a processing systemimplemented with one or more processors. The one or more processors maybe implemented with any combination of general-purpose microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmablegate array (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers,state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicatedhardware finite state machines, or any other suitable entities that canperform calculations or other manipulations of information.

The processing system may also include machine-readable media forstoring software. Software shall be construed broadly to mean any typeof instructions, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. Instructions mayinclude code (e.g., in source code format, binary code format,executable code format, or any other suitable format of code). Theinstructions, when executed by the one or more processors, cause theprocessing system to perform the various functions described herein.

The controller 330 may be configured to process image data obtained bythe image sensors 334 to extract machine readable information on theimages as described above. For example, the controller 330 may beconfigured to decode barcodes, perform optical character recognition,identify images, and the like. Memory 332 may be used to storeinstructions for processing image data using the controller 330.

The image capture device 302 may further include a communication module338 that may include communication circuitry to allow transmission andreception of data between the image capture device 302 and a deviceexternal to the image capture device 302. The communication module 338may be configured to send and receive data to or from the image capturedevice 302 via a network to a database 344 or another computer system342. For example, machine readable information extracted from an item100 scanned may be stored in the database 334 or managed and furtherprocessed by the computer system 342. For example, the computer system342 may use the extracted information to allow further tracking and/orinteraction with data extracted from a scanned item 100 such as fortracking, managing, and processing items being scanned. In addition,extracted information may be provided to a database 334 or computersystem 342 as a reference to additional information stored regarding anitem 100.

The image capture system 302 may further include a user interface 336 insome aspects. The user interface 336 may comprise a keypad, amicrophone, a speaker, and/or a display. The user interface 336 mayinclude any element or component that conveys information to a user ofthe image capture device 302 and/or receives input from the user. Insome implementations, a remote computer system 342 may be used tocontrol the operation of the image capture device 302 via the network340 or other ways of communication. The image capture device 302 mayalso include a housing.

The various components of the image capture device 302 may be coupledtogether by a bus system 346. The bus system 346 may include a data bus,for example, as well as a power bus, a control signal bus, and a statussignal bus in addition to the data bus. Those of skill in the art willappreciate the components of the image capture device 302 may be coupledtogether or accept or provide inputs to each other using some othermechanism.

Although a number of separate components are illustrated in FIG. 3A,those of skill in the art will recognize that one or more of thecomponents may be combined or commonly implemented. For example, thecontroller 330 may be used to implement not only the functionalitydescribed above with respect to the controller 330, but also toimplement the functionality described above with respect to the othercomponents. Further, each of the components illustrated in FIG. 3A maybe implemented using a plurality of separate elements. Furthermore thecontroller 330 may be used to implement any of the components, modules,circuits, or the like described below, or each may be implemented usinga plurality of separate elements.

As described above, certain aspects of certain embodiments may bedirected to expanding the effective field of view of a system forcapturing and processing images. FIG. 3B is a functional block diagramof a system 300 for capturing images including the image capture device302 of FIG. 3A and a movable mirror 308, in accordance with embodimentsdescribed herein. As shown in FIG. 3B, the system 300 may include amirror 308 positioned relative to the input of the image sensors 334such that light may be reflected off the mirror 308 and sensed by theimage sensors 334 to capture image data reflected by the mirror 308.According to one embodiment, the mirror 308 may be continuously andselectively moved (e.g., rotated or tilted) according to some determinedpattern of movement and some determined speed. As the mirror 308 changespositions, the reflected image captured by the image capture device 302may vary based on the instantaneous position of the mirror 308. In thiscase, the position of the mirror 380 may define a slightly differentreflected area. For example, the system 300 may include an actuator 310(or any other appropriate electromechanical device and/or motor)physically connected to the mirror 310 for controllably moving themirror 308 in some way. In some embodiments, the actuator 310 may beselectively controlled by a controller (not shown). For example, thecontroller 330 shown in FIG. 3A may be configured to send signals tocontrol the actuator 310, or the actuator 310 may be connected to adedicated controller, or the controller may be in a system external tothe actuator 310 such as a computer system 342.

In operation, the controller 330 (FIG. 3) may be configured to captureat least one image while the mirror 308 is moving such that the field ofview 206 defined by the at least one image changes based on aninstantaneous position of the mirror 308. The controller 308 may thenprocess the at least one image to extract machine readable informationlocated on at least a portion of one or more items in the at least oneimage. Capturing a series of images as the mirror 308 moves may thusproduce a series of distinct images, where the field of view 206 (FIG.2) of each image may depend on the instantaneous position of the mirror.By processing/extracting machine readable information from each image(or a composite image), the combined field of view 206 defined by thesum of field of views of all of the images together may be larger thanthe field of view 206 for each individual image. As such, the field ofview may be defined by the range of positions of the mirror 308 as itmoves and the resulting reflected captured images. Accordingly, therange of movement of the mirror may effectively enlarge the field ofview 206 that can be captured by the image capture device 302. In oneaspect, no loss in resolution occurs, as the position and/or hardwareconfiguration of the image capture device 302 is not altered.

As described above, there may be a variety of different ways the system300 may be configured to effectively expand the field of view of theimage capture device 302 using a movable mirror 308. As will bedescribed below, a variety of different ways in which the mirror 308 maybe moved may allow for expanding the field of view in different shapesand sizes according to the desired application.

FIG. 4A is a side elevation view of a system 400 for capturing imagesusing a movable mirror 408 a for extracting machine readable informationfrom items within a scanning area, in accordance with an embodimentdescribed herein. The embodiments shown in FIG. 4A may be used to expandthe effective field of view 406 of an image capture device 402 a. Amirror 408 a may be mounted to a rotatable structure 412 a, for example,at a nominal forty-five degrees at the input of the image sensors 434 aof the image capture device 402 a. It should be appreciated that themirror 408 a may be mounted at a variety of angles (e.g., at least from10 degrees to 80 degrees) according to the position of the image capturedevice 402 a and the desired scanning area and field of view 406. Lightis reflected off the mirror 408 a and into the image sensors 434 a ofthe image capture device 402 a. The mirror 408 a may be physicallymounted to the rotatable structure 412 a with a bias. For example, themirror 408 a may be affixed to the rotatable structure 412 a at an anglefrom the rotatable structure 412 a of more or less 6 degrees. This anglemay be more or less depending on the application and desired field ofview. An actuator 310 (FIG. 3) may be configured to continuously rotatethe rotatable structure 412 a while images are being captured by theimage capture device 402 a. In one aspect, as the rotatable structure412 a rotates, a ‘wobble’ may be seen as the biased (e.g., mounted at afixed angle from the rotatable structure 412 a) mirror 408 a rotates.

The rotatable structure 412 a may be rotated at a determined speed, forexample at 2 Hz, to produce a sweep cycle of a half of a second. Afrequency of two hertz may be adequate in some aspects for providing afast reading response required for scanning images in a manual sortingoperation. As the mirror 408 a rotates, the field of view 406 ascaptured by the image capture device 402 a will be determined by theinstantaneous position of the mirror 408 a. For example, as the mirror408 a is fixed at an angle with respect to the rotatable structure 412a, the portion of the mirror 408 a that reflects into the image sensors434 a will change thus allowing images captured by the image capturedevice 402 a to capture a different area under the mirror 408 a. As aseries of images are captured by the image capture device 402, theeffective field of view of the images combined will correspond to thetotal visible area reflected off the mirror in each position. Forexample, the image capture device 402 a may take 10 to 15 frames asecond while the mirror is moving at 2 Hz to capture images at as themirror 408 a is at several different positions. The captured reflectedimages may correspond to a different area reflected into the mirror suchthat each image is different. Each of these images may be processed asthey are captured to extract machine readable information. In oneaspect, this may allow for sufficient time for objects moving within theexpanded field of view to be imaged and processed.

This allows the combined field of view from all the images to create acircular pattern (e.g., circular pattern of images) within an areareflecting into the mirror 408 a (e.g., underneath the mirror). As shownin FIG. 4A, as the mirror 408 a rotates, three fields of view 406 a, 406b, and 406 c are shown which correspond to different positions of themirror as it rotates. The combined areas defined by the fields of view406 a, 406 b, and 406 b may defined a expanded field of view as eachimage may be processed to extract machine readable information locatedin any of the fields of view 406 a, 406 b, and 406 c.

FIG. 4B is a side perspective view of the system 400 b of FIG. 4A forcapturing and processing images using a movable mirror 408 b. As in FIG.4A, the mirror 408 a is angled from a rotatable structure 412 b which ispositioned such that light is reflected from the mirror 408 b and intothe image sensors 434 b of the image capture device 402 b. As is moreeasily shown in FIG. 4B, a field of view 406 e capture by an image viathe mirror 408 b at an instantaneous position of the mirror 408 bdefines a three dimensional area. As the mirror moves and images arecaptured at each instantaneous position, the total field of viewcaptured by the aggregate of all images may be shown by the threedimensional circular field of view 406 b. This may greatly expand acircular area under the image capture device 402 b in which informationmay be automatically extracted from items/objects passing underneath.

FIG. 5A is a side elevation view of a system 500 for capturing imagesusing a movable mirror 508 a for extracting machine readable informationfrom items within a scanning area, in accordance with another embodimentdescribed herein. As in FIG. 4A, the system 500 includes a rectangularor similarly shaped mirror 508 a that is positioned relate to imagesensors 534 a of an image capture device 502 a for capturing imagesreflected via the mirror 508 a. In FIG. 5A, the mirror 508 a is affixedto structure 514 a that may be mounted at a nominal angle with respectto the input of the image sensors 534 a. An actuator 310 (FIG. 3A) maybe configured to cause the mirror 508 a to linearly oscillate back andforth with respect to an axis (e.g., tilt back and forth or side toside). This may cause the field of view 506 to linearly sweep back andforth as shown by the combined fields of views 506 a, 506 b, and 506 cdefined by different positions of the mirror 508 a. This provides fordifferently shaped combined fields of view as described above withrespect to FIGS. 4A and 4B. It should be appreciated that the mirror 508a may be configured to linearly oscillate in any direction. For example,the mirror 508 a may tilt with respect to any two opposing points on themirror 508 a (e.g., back and forth, laterally from side to side tocreate a side to side sweep, or at any angle) to create differentexpanded fields of view in different locations.

FIG. 5B is a side perspective view of the system 500 of FIG. 5A forcapturing and processing images using a movable mirror 508 b. Asdescribed above, the mirror 508 b may tilt back and forth with respectto an axis to reflect different areas beneath the mirror into the imagesensors 534 b of the image capture device 502 b. As shown, athree-dimensional area 506 e is defined for one instantaneous positionof the mirror 508 b. The combined field of view defined by the fields ofview 506 d, 506 e, and 506 f for three different positions of the mirror508 b may form an expanded substantially rectangular three dimensionalarea for extracting information from items/objects placed within thisarea. As such, in contrast to FIGS. 4A and 4B, FIGS. 5A and 5B show howthe configuration and pattern of movement may be changed to change theresulting expanded field of view for the scanning system. This mayprovide increased flexibility in configuring the scanning system at alow cost for different applications with different constraints on thefield of view desired. It should be appreciated while FIGS. 4A and 4Band FIGS. 5A and 5B show two different patterns of movement, a varietyof types of patterns of movement may be selected for defining differentexpanded fields of view according to the application and the desiredfield of view.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are additional perspective views of the system shown inFIGS. 4A and 4B respectively for extracting machine readable informationfrom an item 600 b within a scanning area, in accordance with anembodiment described herein. FIG. 6A shows a perspective view at anangle to show the mirror 608 a as it reflects light into the imagesensors 634 a of the image capture device 602 a. As shown, the mirror608 a is affixed to the surface of a rotatable structure 612 a and maybe attached at angle (i.e., biased) as described above with reference toFIG. 4A. A controller 330 (FIG. 3) may be configured to capture imagesas the mirror 608 a rotates to extract machine readable information inseveral images of an item 600 a below within an expanded field of view.As described above, the item 600 a may include machine readableinformation such as barcode 651 a and 655 a as well as machine readabletext 660 for which optical character recognition may be performed orother techniques for extracting information. FIG. 6B shows the imagecapture device 602 b and mirror 608 b at an alternative angle. The imagecapture device 602 b and mirror 608 b may be attached and mounted in avariety of different ways relative to a scanning area. The scanning areamay over areas such as a table, a conveyor belt, an area where items arecarried underneath, and the like.

Many variations to the above described embodiments are possible as willbe appreciated by a person having ordinary skill in the art. Forexample, the speed at which a mirror is moved may be configured to befaster or slower, depending on the application and desiredreading/scanning response. The speed may be dependent on the framecapture rate of the image capture device, the processing required to usecombined image data, and other characteristics of the image scanning andprocessing system needed to achieve the appropriate reading/scanningresponse.

In addition, as noted above, various and more complicated scan/imagepatterns may also be achieved by changing the mirror 308 characteristicsand/or motion mechanism. For example, in one embodiment, a semi-circularimage pattern may be produced. The image pattern resulting from thechosen mirror movement pattern may also affect the processing requiredto use and combine image data from the series of images and may allowfor adapting the shape and size of the target area in which distributionitems may be placed. Furthermore, the shape, size and relative positionof the mirror 308 with respect to the image capture device 302 may beconfigured for different applications. The shape, size and relativeposition of the mirror 308 may be used to change the visible areacaptured by a series of images and can be used to configure the desiredresolution needed as well other parameters for achieving desiredreading/scanning responses.

In addition, in some embodiments it may be necessary to synchronize themovement of the mirror 308 and/or capturing and processing of the imageswith the event of an item 100 or items moving within a scanning area.For example, the system 300 may be configured to detect when an item 100is going to be scanned and automatically initiate the movement of themirror 308 and capturing/processing of the images. For example, thesystem 300 may include one or more sensors (not shown) such as motionsensors that may detect that an item 100 needs to be scanned andinitiate the process for capturing the images and causing the mirror 308to start moving. Any other sensor that may detect the presence of anarticle within the scanning area may also be used. In anotherembodiment, the mirror 308 may be configured to continuously moveregardless of the presence of the object, but the image capturingprocess may be selectively enabled upon detection of one or more items.In yet another embodiment there may be a manual input or switch that maybe used by an operator to initiate the movement of the mirror 308 and/orthe image capturing and processing process. A user interface may beprovided to allow for controlling both the moving of the mirror and thecapturing and processing of images. Other methods and/or sensors mayalso be used in accordance with the principles describes herein tosynchronize the scanning process with the detection of items within thescanning area.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an implementation of a method 700 forexpanding an effective field of view for use in a system for extractingmachine readable information from an item within a scanning area, inaccordance with an embodiment described herein. The method 700 may beused for capturing and processing images as described above. Althoughthe method 700 is described below with respect to elements of the imagecapture device 302 (FIG. 3), those having ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that other components may be used to implement one or more ofthe steps described herein.

At block 702, a mirror 308 positioned relative to the input of an imagecapture device 302 is selectively moved. An actuator 310 may beconfigured to selectively move the mirror 308. At block 704, at leastone image may be captured via an image capture device 302 while themirror 308 is moving such that a field of view defined by the at leastone image changes based on an instantaneous position of the mirror 308.A controller 330 of the image capture device 302 may be configured tocapture the at least one image. At block 706, the at least one image isprocessed to extract machine readable information located on at least aportion of one or more items in the at least one image. The controller330 may be configured to perform the processing.

It should be appreciated that there may be several ways of processingthe series of images to extract machine readable information from itemslocated in the images. While some examples are provided below, oneskilled in the art will appreciate the variety of methods that may beused for processing images to decode and extract information foundthereon.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an implementation of a method 800 forcapturing and processing images to extract machine readable informationfrom an item 100 located within a scanning area, in accordance with anembodiment described herein. As in FIG. 7, at block 802, a mirror 308positioned relative to the input of an image capture device 302 isselectively moved. At block 804, a series of images are captured via theimage capture device 302 while the mirror 308 is moving such that afield of view defined by the at least one image changes based on aninstantaneous position of the mirror. At block 806, each individualimage may be processed to extract machine readable information from eachindividual image. For example, each image may be analyzed individuallyto determine whether the image captures an item 100 with machinereadable information affixed to and/or printed thereon. Once machinereadable information has been detected, the information may be decodedas necessary from the information included in the image being processed.At block 808, the machine readable information extracted from eachindividual image is aggregated. This may include determining andeliminating redundant information, for example, if several imagesinclude the same piece of information. This may allow for continuousimage capturing and processing as the mirror 308 moves to continuouslyscan and capture items/objects moving within the expanded field of viewof the image capture system.

Alternatively or in combination with the method described with referenceto FIG. 8, FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an implementation ofanother method 900 for capturing and processing images to extractmachine readable information from an item located within a scanningarea, in accordance with an embodiment described herein. As in FIG. 7,at block 902, a mirror 308 positioned relative to the input of an imagecapture device 302 is selectively moved. At block 904, a series ofimages are captured via the image capture device 302 while the mirror308 is moving such that a field of view defined by the at least oneimage changes based on an instantaneous position of the mirror. At block906, image data from at least two images of the series of images iscombined. For example, images may be stitched together to form anenlarged image with non-overlapping or non-overlapping data. At block908, the combined image data is processed to extract machine readableinformation. This may allow for extracting information that may be onlypartially included on individual images, but that when combined togethermay allow for improved processing.

There may be many methods of extracting machine readable informationfrom an item being scanned. For example, various image processingtechniques may be used to identify target data in an image and extractand/or decode the target data. In addition, a variety of barcodedecoding methods may be used according to the type and structure of thebarcode. In addition, different methods of object segmentation andidentification may further be used. Further, other optical characterrecognition techniques and like processes are additionally contemplated.

As just one example of an image processing technique, FIG. 10 is aflowchart illustrating an implementation of a method 1000 for processingan image to extract machine readable information in the form of abarcode, in accordance with an embodiment described herein. Once animage has been captured, at block 1002, a controller 308 may beconfigured to threshold the captured image into a bit matrix. At block1004, horizontal lines may be scanned to locate an area of image withcorrect number of distinct vertical lines. This may correspond toidentifying a portion of an image in which a barcode is located. Atblock 1006, a center line may be located in order to provide a referencepoint for determining the type of each bar. At block 1008, bar types foreach vertical line may be detected based on comparisons with expectedbar types and using the center line. At block 1010, vertical lines maybe translated into a decoded values based on detected bar types. Thedecoded value may be a numeric value, a string, or other alphanumericvalue that may be stored. In one aspect, the decoded value may be usedto access a database 344 to retrieve additional information about thebarcode. Other processing may be further done based on the decodedvalue.

It should be appreciated that FIG. 10 shows just one possible example ofa method for processing image data and other machine readableinformation. As such, numerous other methods may be used as would beappreciated by one skilled the art. For example, as described above,other methods employing optical character recognition, imagerecognition/detection, additional barcode image decoding, and the likemay be used in accordance with the principles described herein.

As such, in accordance with embodiments described herein, a system 300is provided that allows for enlarging the field of view of a scanningarea while using a single image capture device 302. In one aspect,rather than specially modifying or upgrading an image capture device 302such as a camera, a “stock” camera not specially adapted for higherresolution or increased image sensor array size may be used in thescanning system while still increasing the field of view. This maygreatly reduce the cost of having a scanning system with an enlargedfield of view while also maintaining an acceptable resolution forextracting machine readable information located on items passing throughthe enlarged field of view. In addition, according to the embodimentsdescribed herein, an image capture device 302 may not have to bemodified or repositioned to change the shape of or the size of the fieldof view of the scanning system. Rather, the movement and/or shape andsize of the mirror may be altered to produce different sweep patterns toalter the field of the view defined by images capture by the imagecapture device 302. This may additionally reduce the cost of having areconfigurable system for different fields of view for applications andsituations in which a scanning system may be employed.

It will be understood by those of skill in the art that numerous andvarious modifications can be made without departing from the spirit ofthe present invention. Therefore, it should be clearly understood thatthe forms of the invention are illustrative only and not intended tolimit the scope of the invention. While the above detailed descriptionhas shown, described, and pointed out novel features as applied tovarious embodiments, it will be understood that various omissions,substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the device orprocess illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope or spirit of the invention. As will berecognized, the embodiments described herein may be embodied within aform that does not provide all of the features and benefits set forthherein, as some features may be used or practiced separately fromothers.

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the operations, such as varioushardware and/or software component(s), circuits, and/or module(s).Generally, any operations illustrated in the Figures may be performed bycorresponding functional means capable of performing the operations. Forexample, with reference to FIG. 3, means for reflecting light mayinclude a mirror. Means for selectively moving may include a controller308 or an actuator 310. Means for capturing at least one image mayinclude an image capture device 302 and/or a controller 308 thereof.Means for processing may additionally include a controller 308. Itshould be appreciated that some of the image processing may occurexternal to the image capture device 308 by another connected processoror system. In this case, the controller 308 may be configured tocommunicate captured images to another processor for extracting machinereadable information located on the images.

Information and signals may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the above description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, andalgorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability ofhardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules,circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms oftheir functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented ashardware or software depends upon the particular application and designconstraints imposed on the overall system. The described functionalitymay be implemented in varying ways for each particular application, butsuch implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the embodiments of the invention.

The various illustrative blocks, modules, and circuits described inconnection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor(DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a FieldProgrammable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device,discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm and functions described in connectionwith the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly inhardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in acombination of the two. If implemented in software, the functions may bestored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on atangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium. A software module mayreside in Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory(ROM), Electrically Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CDROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. A storagemedium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can readinformation from, and write information to, the storage medium. In thealternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. Diskand disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer readable media. The processor andthe storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a userterminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium mayreside as discrete components in a user terminal.

For purposes of summarizing the disclosure, certain aspects, advantagesand novel features of the inventions have been described herein. It isto be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may beachieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the invention.Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner thatachieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taughtherein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taughtor suggested herein.

Various modifications of the above described embodiments will be readilyapparent, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited tothe embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for capturing images, the apparatuscomprising: an image capture device comprising one or more imagesensors; a single mirror configured to be selectively movable andpositioned relative to the image capture device to reflect light towardthe one or more image sensors; and a controller configured to: capture,by the image capture device, a plurality of overlapping two-dimensionalimages of an item via the single mirror while the single mirror ismoving such that a field of view defined by each of the plurality ofoverlapping two-dimensional images changes based on an instantaneousposition of the single mirror; and process the plurality of overlappingtwo-dimensional images to extract machine readable information locatedon at least a portion of the item in the at least one image.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the image capture device and the singlemirror are configured to be affixed to obtain images from a scanningarea.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the field of view defined bythe plurality of overlapping two-dimensional images forms an expandedfield of view as compared to a second field of view defined by any oneindividual image of the plurality of overlapping two-dimensional images.4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processor is configured toextract machine readable information from the at least a portion of theitem within the expanded field of view.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein at least a portion of the one or more items is located in one ormore of the plurality of overlapping two-dimensional images.
 6. Theapparatus of claim 5, wherein the controller is configured to processthe plurality of overlapping two-dimensional images by processing eachindividual image of the plurality of overlapping two-dimensional imagesand is further configured to aggregate information extracted from eachindividual image.
 7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the controller isconfigured to process the plurality of overlapping two-dimensionalimages by combining image data from the plurality of overlappingtwo-dimensional images and is further configured to process the combinedimage data to extract machine readable information located on the atleast a portion of the item.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theitem comprises a distribution item, and wherein the machine readableinformation comprises at least one of a barcode, a stamp, and text, andwherein the barcode comprises at least one of a one dimensional barcode,a two-dimensional barcode, a Quick Response code, and an IntelligentBarcode.
 9. A method for capturing images, the method comprising:selectively moving a single mirror positioned relative to the input ofan image capture device; capturing a plurality of overlappingtwo-dimensional images via the image capture device while the singlemirror is moving such that a field of view defined by the plurality ofoverlapping two-dimensional images changes based on an instantaneousposition of the mirror; and processing the plurality of overlappingtwo-dimensional images to extract machine readable information locatedon at least a portion of one or more items in the at least one image.10. The method of claim 9, wherein the image capture device and thesingle mirror are configured to be affixed to obtain images from ascanning area.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein the field of viewdefined by the plurality of overlapping two-dimensional images forms anexpanded field of view as compared to a second field of view defined byany one individual image of the plurality of overlapping two-dimensionalimages.
 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the processor is configuredto extract machine readable information from the at least a portion ofthe item within the expanded field of view.
 13. The method of claim 9,wherein the at least a portion of the item is located in one or more ofthe plurality of overlapping two-dimensional images.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, wherein processing the plurality of overlappingtwo-dimensional images comprises processing each individual image of theplurality of overlapping two-dimensional images and aggregatinginformation extracted from each individual image.
 15. The method ofclaim 13, wherein processing the plurality of overlappingtwo-dimensional images comprises combining image data from the pluralityof overlapping two-dimensional images and processing the combined imagedata to extract machine readable information located on the at least aportion the item.
 16. The method of claim 9, wherein the item comprisesa distribution item, and wherein the machine readable informationcomprises at least one of a barcode, a stamp, and text, and wherein thebarcode comprises at least one of a one dimensional barcode, atwo-dimensional barcode, a Quick Response code, and an IntelligentBarcode.
 17. An apparatus for capturing images comprising: a cameraconfigured to capture an image defined by a first field view for adetermined resolution; a single mirror configured to be selectivelymovable and configured to be positioned at the input of the camera suchthat light is reflected from the mirror and into the camera; and acontroller configured to capture a series of overlapping two-dimensionalimages via the camera reflected via the single mirror while the singlemirror is moving such that a second field of view defined by the seriesof images is larger than the first field of view.
 18. The apparatus ofclaim 17, wherein the camera and the single mirror are configured to beaffixed to obtain images from a scanning area.
 19. The apparatus ofclaim 17, wherein the controller is further configured to extractmachine readable information from at least a portion of an item withinthe second field of view.
 20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein thecontroller is further configured to process the series of overlappingtwo-dimensional images to extract machine readable information locatedon at least a portion of an item in the series of overlappingtwo-dimensional images.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein thecontroller is further configured to process the series of overlappingtwo-dimensional images by processing each individual image of the seriesof images and further configured to aggregate information extracted fromeach individual image.
 22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein thecontroller is configured to process the series of overlappingtwo-dimensional images by combining image data from the series ofoverlapping two-dimensional images and is further configured to processthe combined image data to extract machine readable information locatedon the at least a portion of the item.